The Seasons of Our Life

The seasons of our life are much like the seasons we live in. God said each season has a purpose: "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1. We are to live in each season under God's perfect design for our lives. He can lead and guide us. Each season can represent something new within our walk with Christ, within our grace journey towards His wholeness.

As we sit in the middle of winter, the cold isolation we sometimes endur reminds us of the suffering, the heartache and grief that "the cold" can sometimes bring in. But even in that "cold" there can be beauty!

"Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it."~Isaiah 40:4-5
Isaiah's words in chapter 40 are a pleasant reminder that not only are we to make way the path so God can enter our life and complete His plan but He alone can bring us up from the valley, tackle the mountain of stressors we are facing, soften our journey from the obsticles we come upon and clear the way so we can see and hear His directions. And in it all, He is to be glorified. We are to be an example of what He can do in and through our life.

If there was no winter, there would be no spring. Can you imagine not having a season of rebirth? Spring is a time of new growth, new revelations, new life. In our walk with God, we too have seasons of rebirth, revelations, renewal and transformation. Insight from God can bring us to a better place with Him. It can draw us closer and more intimate with Him:

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."~Isaiah 43: 19

The transforming power of God in our life is what makes us a beautiful "daughter of the King" (Ps. 45:8)! It is a time of growth to be more like Chirst. It is a time of developing the inner beauty God has created in us.

Summer is often a reflection of what we have learn in our Christian walk. As the heat and noise of this world surrounds us, we are to show forth our faith, to live out God's truth, to model His testimony in all that we are surrounded by. Foremost, we are to protect ourself from the heat and dryness that can corrupt our inner being and pull us from God's presence. Proverbs 4:23 states "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life". Look at The Message version of this Scripture....

"Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts.

Don't talk out of both sides of your mouth;

avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip.

Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions.

Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you.

Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust. "

The season of summer can reflect the path we walk and the testing of our faith. Are we obedient to God and His plan? Do we withstand the heat and dry spells to magnify His work in our life? Are we able to overcome because of His presence in our life?

Fall in the Christian life can represent the shedding away of our inner and outer self to allow God to fulfill His purpose in our life. God can only work in and through us when we have stripped away what is not from Him and opened ourself to be naked and bare for His renewing and transformation-his revealing.

"So all of us who have had that veil removed can see

and reflect the glory of the Lord.

And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him

as we are changed into his glorious image."

~2 Corinthians 3:18

This veil we remove is the releasing of those things that interfer in our walk with Him. It is the removing of the extra baggage we carry that keeps us from trusting and relying on Him in everything. The veil can be a 'letting go' of pain, of past sins, of personal desires and wants. In this process we allow the mist of God's grace to wash us clean, to re-prioritize our life and what we are in it, maybe even what we have done with it. In the stripping away, the releasing brings forth many colors of God's love and the promise that He can be our all, that He will protect us and provide for us.

"He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own,

using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control."

~Philippians 3:21

The seasons of our life are beautiful-full of so much blessings from our Lord. Though each season can hold a negative, the positive far outweighs this. It is our job to travel through each season of our life completely focused on the holiness of God, perfecting ourselves by His grace, becoming a vessel He can use. May the following words from 2 Corinthians in The Message Bible be our encouaragement as we travel through each season of our life:

"With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends,

let's make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us,

both within and without.

Let's make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God. "

~2 Corinthians 7:1

Have a blessed weekend and a new week of living as a daughter of the King!

In His Graces~Pamela